The relief recalls the foundation of Aquileia, which took place in 181 BC in the presence of the magistrates sent from Rome, according to a rite that tradition led back to Romulus. The furrow left by the plow pulled by an ox and a cow adorned with rich harnesses defined the pomerium, the sacred and impassable perimeter of the city. The representation was exhibited in a place of great importance, probably above one of the city gates.

The mosaic showing an unswept floor (asarotos oikos) is a rare Roman copy – one of the earliest – of a creation attributed by Pliny the Elder (Naturalis Historia XXXVI, 184) to the renowned mosaic artist Sosus, who lived in the 2nd century BC in the court of the king of Pergamon. Whole fish and fish-bones, eggs, vine leaves, olives, apples, pears, cherries, figs, grapes, almonds and chestnuts are shown scattered over the floor – the remains of a lavish banquet that would remind who ever walked over it of the house holder’s wealth.

The statue of the emperor Augustus as pontiff maximum, supreme priestly office of the Roman state, is part of a statuary cycle dedicated to the members of the Julio-Claudian family. The group, perhaps originally located in the complex of the forum of Aquileia, was later reused in a late antique building.

The funerary urn is decorated on its surface with a continuous scene of banquet. The scene shows the deceased from behind, to whom a fellow diner and a servant make gestures of good fortune. Perhaps this is a reference to the banquet celebrated by the family on the ninth day after the burial, at the end of the period of mourning.

The statue crowned the funerary monument of a naval officer, represented in heroic nakedness with the armor resting on the leg and the cingulum for the sword. The gemstone ring indicates that it was a high-ranking character, whose achievements at sea are evoked by the bow of a ship originally inserted in the monument. The statue was found in a locality a few kilometers from Aquileia, where the villa of the deceased probably stood.

Grave goods from female cremation tomb: amber objects (rings, shell, rod-end discs, mythological figurines, dog with dolphin, dice, ellipses), gold hairnet, gold ring with carved gem, silver alloy mirror, silver needle-holder, ivory needle.

The medallion is part of a larger group of sculptures, depicting some of the deities of the Roman pantheon who made up the group of the "Twelve Gods" (Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, Mercury, Apollo, Diana, Venus, Mars, Vulcan, Vesta, Neptune, Ceres). The busts of Aquileia, made by craftsmen from Asia Minor, perhaps belonged to two distinct series, which also included the goddess Rome, Hercules and Attis or Mithras. The medallions were found in fragments outside their original context, presumably a large late antique building built in the western area of the Roman city.